Tobacco Road, You Complete Me

(Drake's computer = no spellchecker)

Yeah, Duke lost to FSU. Deal with it, I have. FSU has an uncanny ability to beat us every couple of seasons, I have come to terms with it so everyone can get over it. Also, you definitely need to read this article, especially all you Duke-Haters. Speaking of Duke-Haters, there are two books I absolutely have been dying to get since Teetz and I went to Barnes and Noble last week. They are "To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever: A Thoroughly Obsessive, Intermittently Uplifting, and Occasionally Unbiased Account of the Duke-North Carolina Basketball Rivalry" and "Blue Blood: Duke-Carolina: Inside the Most Storied Rivalry in College Hoops". I was shopping around on the B&N site and also found these related titles, which I am also eager to read:

***"Four Corners: How UNC, N. C. State, Duke, and Wake Forest Made North Carolina the Center of the Basketball Universe"

***Tobacco Road: Duke, North Carolina, N. C. State, Wake Forest, and the History of the Most Intense Backyard Rivalries in Sportsand

***Krzyzewskiville Tales

But now, on to my real reason for this post. There are many great rivalries in college sports. I don't feel there are really and 'pro' rivalries even worth mentioning - yes, the Packer/Vikings/Bears triangle is always a lot of fun and I get very intense about it, but that's pro, and it is easy to deal with a loss knowing your wallet is still getting fat. College is different, in college it is about pride. The ACC is by far the best basketball conference in the nation. The Big 12 has some great teams, and so does the Big 10, but consistently the ACC (the Atlantic Coast Conference for you uneducated swine) has the top teams, and rivalries, in the nation.

Tonight, #1(both the AP and Coaches polls) Duke is hosting #13(AP poll)/#15(Coaches poll) North Carolina. If you don't understand how important this game is, let me educate you with a few facts:

1. ESPNClassic has been running the 'Tobacco Road Marathon' today, showing the greatest games between the two schools

2. SportsCenter on ESPN has been talking about this match-up for the last two weeks, depite the fact that each team has had at least four other games in the last two weeks. They even created an all-star team from each school and were playing with those teams on NCAA College Basketball '06.

3. College Game Day will be on an hour before the game, live from Cameron Indoor Stadium. They are talking to past players from both teams about the rivalry/tonight's match-up.

4. This is the 221st meeting of Duke and North Carolina. Students have been holding spots in line to get tickets since at least December 23rd of 2005. Students were not allowed to set up tents until January 9th of 2006.

5. It is Senior Night. Time to sat good-bye to Cameron Indoor for JJ Redick, the all-time leading scorer both at Duke and in the ACC and second in the NCAA, and Sheldon Williams "The Landlord" of Cameron Indoor.

6. Duke/UNC is always the last game of the season for both teams before conference tournament play starts. This is the biggest game of the season every year, regardless of how either team has done throughout the rest of the season.

7. Not only is this game on ESPN, it is on every single other ESPN affiliate. That means ESPN2, ESPNU, etc. Check out the full list here.

8. The last five meetings between Duke and North Carolina have been decided by a TOTAL of 14 points. Not 14 each game, but 14 TOTAL. Duke is 4-1 in those five meetings.

I realize some of you might wonder what the importance of the phrase 'Tobacco Road' is, and what it actually is. This term is used a lot in regards to their rivalry basically because it is a road that runs from one university to the other. The road is roughly 8 miles long, which is the exact distance from the doors of Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham where Blue Devils plays, to the doors of the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, where the Tar Heels play. Yes, this measurement is exact. That's how intense this rivalry is.

I am so excited, Imight actually pee my pants. I love Duke basketball more than anything, I have watched Duke for as long as I can remember, since at least the age of 8. The very first game I have in my memory is the Elite 8 game vs. Kentucky in 1991 where Grant Hill passed the ball to Christian Laettner with mere seconds left, and Laettner's turnaround won the game and sent Duke to the Final Four (and eventually the first of back-to-back Championships, as they would win it all again in 1992.)

I can not wait for Selection Sunday. This is when the brackets are revealed by NCAA officials and we find out which region Duke will be #1 in. Duke usually doesn't have to travel far for the first two rounds, because they are that awesome. Regardless of win or lose tonight, and regardless of how they do even in the ACC tourney, I am almost 100% confident that Duke will be a #1 seed. If they drop to a #2, I will be very very surprised.

I can't wait for the game to start! GO DUKE!

Oh goodness, how I love March and all the Madness it brings!